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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Creative Monday Challenge #38 - Textured Poppy

The Creative Challenge this week was to experiment with using mediums to create texture. I used acrylics with modeling paste to build up texture on a painting of a large poppy. I started with a small stretched canvas - 5x5x1.5 inches - and sketched in the overall shape of the poppy. Using the modeling paste I built up texture for each petal, especially along their edges. It is sort of like icing a cake, spreading it with a palette knife. When that was dry, I used acrylic paints to add color to the flower. The background and suggestion of leaves was created with paint only - no texture.

I continued the painting onto all four sides of the canvas to add to the three dimensional look. Because it is a gallery wrapped canvas - no staples showing - it is ready to hang or display on a table easel.

I enjoyed experimenting with the modeling paste but could definitely use more practice. Using acrylics can create a shiny look that presents challenges when photographing - using any flash just creates reflections. I did enjoy using the small canvas and painting around the sides - all in all it was a worthwhile exercise to stretch my artistic muscles!